Saturday, September 10, 2016

Hi everyone! I know, six months since I last blogged…….while
my posts have been somewhat infrequent over the last couple of years I do have
to say that leaving it this long was not in the plan!!! I’d started out this year with the intention
of trying to blog once a month and well, look how far I got with
that?!?!?! It’s been a combination of
things – life (mostly that!), stitching mojo going walkabout which led to
blogging mojo going walkabout and…….well, you get the picture. However, the last few weeks I’ve been feeling
like my stitching mojo is returning which, in turn, has led me to thinking
about getting a blog post out there. Of
course, when I started to take pictures of what I wanted to share I realised
that there were more than I thought there were going to be so, excuse this
picture heavy blog post. If you stick
with me right to the end of it, well, we’ll be back on track.

First up, last time
round I had started to share progress pics of the current BBD Garden Club
Series. Well, I finished this one…

BBD's Honey Bee #3 in Garden Club Series

Then, I got to this
one and finished it as well….

BBD's Sweet Home #4 in the Garden Club Series

You’ll notice I
haven’t filled in the wording yet. Somehow Sweet Home Belfast just doesn’t have
the right ring to it so I’ve left that blank until I come up with an
alternative.

I was really on a
roll with these and finished this one…..

BBD's Tulip and Lily #6 in the Garden Club Series

And then? Then I ground to a halt. Do you think this
stopped me buying the charts as they were released? Of course not….

Let’s just say I
have good intentions and leave it at that for now.

My lovely friend Margaret
(no blog) celebrated a birthday in May and I decided to stitch this scissor
holder for her…..

Bobines Cheries by Marie Suarez using suggested fabric and thread

This is an older
chart by Marie Suarez but I think it is still available. Casa Ceninain Italy stock her charts and I know
they ship worldwide. They also stock the
wooden spool.

In August I
celebrated a birthday and my dear friend Carol, who many of you know from her
blog, Stitching Dreams, sent me the sweetest gift….

Look at the cute
little spools she added to the cording!!

Carol already knows
how much I love what she sent. The
little pillow has found the perfect spot, the fabric will soon be used and the
chart is a ‘must stitch’ for me.

Carol,
thank you again my friend for both your kindness and your friendship.

September has rolled
around and it’s hard to believe that we’re heading into autumn. Last year, I had the best of intentions of
having these stitched and finished to be out on display. Well, you can guess what happened….yes, they were
stitched but I never managed to put them together.

This year though? Yesterday was very definitely an autumnal day
here, heavy rain and strong winds, and it was the impetus I needed to get
everything gathered together with the end result being this….

These were stitched using 32ct fabric from my stash and the suggested threads.

One final thing to
share is my current WIP. Yes, I actually
have something on the go and I am enjoying every stitch….

This is Sitting
Pretty by Sheepish Designs. I came
across this chart completely by chance several months ago. I’d been searching for another design on the
Casa Ceninawebsite and going through the list of designers. Lo and behold, I saw Sheepish Designs listed there
and did a double take as I’d never seen it listed before given how her charts
are pretty much OOP now. Of course, I
had to take a look and this chart, plus another one was sitting there for
sale. You can guess, I had to have
them!!! I’m thinking they may have only had a couple of copies (maybe someone found them doing a stock inventory)
as once I’d bought the charts Sheepish Designs was no longer listed.

Sitting Pretty I’m
stitching in a mix of the suggested colours some overdyeds, some DMC. I preferred the DMC alternative for the birds
so have gone with that. I am loving the
colours as it comes together. I'm using 32ct cream linen from my stash.

The flower head is
filled in with satin stitches so I’m waiting until all the cross stitch is completed before working on that. I am
certainly hoping that next time I blog I will be reporting this one as a
finish.

And, if you’ve hung in
with me to now, I do believe I’m up-to date!!
No promises that I’ll be blogging every week (I’m back in England next
week so that is highly unlikely!) but I will try not to leave it another 6
months!! Given that my mojo seems to
have returned I’m hopeful that I will have things to share and WIP’s to report
on.